Singh says that the macro-economic system that South Africa has continues to favour historical wealth creation and that the country’s economic system perpetuates inequality and is characterised by weak regulatory oversight.

Joel Quirk and André Broome say that the Global Slavery Index is profoundly flawed methodologically, yet it remains widely and often uncritically cited.

They criticise the ‘Global Slavery Index’, which they describe as ‘the most accurate and comprehensive measure of the extent and risk of modern slavery’.

However, Quirk and Broome are of the view that the Index contains what they call ‘highly suspect statistics’, adding that the inaugural 2013 index had been repeatedly criticised for using unreliable, incomplete and inappropriate data.

The global state of human rights is grim and violations in South Africa are on the rise.

This is the message delivered by Amnesty International Southern Africa director, Deprose Muchena, at the launch of its annual report in Johannesburg.

The worldwide human rights watchdog's global report documents human rights successes and failures in 160 countries and found that police brutality, violence against foreigners and intimidation of the public prosecutor were the most prominent threats to human rights in South Africa in 2014.

In a remote, deeply traditional corner of northern Tanzania, growing numbers of girls are running away from home to escape genital mutilation carried out during mass initiations.

According to girls’ rights campaigners, in the Tarime district of Mara region, bordering Kenya, the number of girls who fled these illegal rituals at the end of last year doubled to 634 from 312 the year before.